Swatting at Nats

Having gone to three Washington Nationals games in the last five days or so, I have several observations to offer:

1. It's no fun cheering against the home team. Maude and I are big Mets fans, and, true to form, the Mets gave us little to cheer about over the weekend. It would be nice if there could be a section reserved for the opposing teams' fans, like in European soccer. At least we could have commiserated with fellow Mets fans instead of having it rubbed in by Nationals fans. It would make a lot of sense in a place like D.C., where most of the residents are from somewhere else. We saw lots of Mets and Phillies fans but they were scattered all around the ballpark.
2. You might not think that there could be obnoxiously boisterous fans of a team that has existed for all of three weeks, but you'd be wrong.
3. Alberto Gonzalez threw out the first pitch in Saturday's game and was booed. I felt bad for the guy; I mean, he's only been Attorney General for a couple months and people are already all over him. The lesson is: don't volunteer to throw out the first ball, unless you are certain you'll get a good reception.
   
4. Screech is the worst mascot in baseball. Worse than the San Diego Chicken. There, I said it.
5. Spend the extra $1.75 and get an Italian sausage instead of a hot dog. You'll thank me for it.
6. Maude and I rode the Metro to two games and drove to the last one. Driving was (shockingly, for this area) much more convenient. The parking lot emptied out right on to the freeway and the traffic was not bad.

We had a good time, in spite of the Mets, Screech, the Nat Pack, the drunk guy screaming after every pitch and the abominable music snippets that are now a part of every major league game. But at least we didn't have to drive to Baltimore.